artist statement

This series originated as an exploration of insecurities and evolved into more of an observation or celebration of the human body.  When I had set out to make portraits I had subconsciously projected my experience in my own body onto the lives of others. I had viewed a body as overwhelming and confining, and upon making photographs of my closest relationships, I came to realize the beauty in them.  The uniqueness of each individual body and the idea of perceiving our physical being in a different light than the rest of the world began to shape the project in its more mature stages.  The people photographed vary in their relationship to me.  Upon observing each subjects body, I began to understand my connection with them more. Also the discernment of posing each body, in hindsight, reflects the subjects understanding of their body and its relation to their identity. Form the more gentle posing to the more aggressive, the images of the body serve as a facet of their personality. Removing clothing was less of an aesthetic choice and more of an attempt to reveal a vulnerable and empathetic subject and to connect each subject to one another. it was in opposition to setting the subject at ease and revealed in the portrait their comfort with their own body and me as the photographer. I've learned in this process that our physical body can reflect and carry the weight of our views of it - it can be a burden or a tool - to connect to one another and the world.